What's your story? how you found/bought yours?

[41V]

how long did you look?
how did you find it? newspaper, internet, referral from somebody?
how many did you see before you decided on 'the one'? how long did it take to decide after seeing it?
what were your main considerations?
how much? were you able to bargain down?


for me, I was casually looking for about 1 year for a 944 as a weekend toy. My budget was about 5k. I wanted 85.5+, stock, relatively low miles, no dash cracks. I mostly looked through cars.com, yahoo classified and ebay. I found maybe 1 car per month that was interesting, but usually the car would be sold the next day after being advertised, or the time for me wasn't right so I had to pass.

I was about to give up searching thinking I would never find the right car at the right time. Then I checked yahoo and was totally suprised to see what poped up, 944 86, red/ lt grey, 1 owner, new paint, 94k, full maintenance... with a tiny 1'' x 1" photo. I went to see it the first day it was posted. Happened to be just 10 miles away. The previous month I had traveled to both Deleware and PA from NJ only to be disappointed. It was raining, not best conditions for a test drive, and I got lost finding the house and almost turned back to go home. but didn't. When I finally arrived, the car was parked outside a nice big house, from a distance looked mint. Up close, even better. Turned out the owner bought a boxter 6 mths earlier, wanted to trade in the 944 at the time but his 16 y.o. son wanted the car. The son later changed his mind for something brand new so the 944 became available. It took me a few days to finally make the commitment to buy. Luckily the owner held the car for me, he was in no rush, he said he had cash offers sight unseen. I gave him what he asked, 4500. No problems, the only issue was 4 drilled holes in the console from a car phone installed in 1986.

In a few days I had a Porsche in my garage. Thrilled, better than my dreams. I bought it April 2001, drove it maybe 1k in last 6 months, put about $500 in tune up and general replacement parts. I have a daily beater, so this is mostly garaged and taken out for joy rides. Just having it and seeing it in the garage or driveway makes it worthwhile. Best toy I've ever had. Turns heads everywhere, kids love it, wife hates it (all the better).

BOB
86 944

[MixMasterK]

I've always wanted a 924 and 944 since high school. I finally have them both.

'79 924: Holding Pen at a junk yard, seized from a drug raid, was a mess inside. Bad fuel pump, valves, exhaust, accumulator, fuel sending unit, tons of body filler. Currently under restoration. Bought for $800

'83 944: Friend's brother referred me to it. Was missing fuel pump relay, water pump has been replaced as well as all ignition components from the coil forward. Needs to go on the frame rack and have the core support pulled a little. Was slid into a trailer during winter by previous owner. Found old registration from owner before him. The guy lived only a couple blocks away from me. Weird, huh? Car is also undergoing restoration. Bought for $1000

[Bob's944]

My search for my latest toy took about 3 months. I wasn't looking for just a 944, I was looking for a fun, great handling car mostly. I had a 1978 Lancia Beta Coupe before, and Lancia Scorpions were one of the cars I was interested in, not very reliable, but kinda like a baby Ferrari. The first car I had checked out was a car that was nearly a track car, but was saved by the person selling it. I had a friend from HS go check it out for me, didn't buy it, but I was very intrigued by this lil yellow head turner.

About a month later I found a baby blue 40,000 mile 1976 Lancia Scorpion in San Fran. I had a work associate go check it out for me, all sounded great. I made plane reservations to fly from Orlando to get it and drive back over 3 days on some great roads. Then, that afternoon, a 1985.5 944 popped up right here in Orlando, dirty but it cleaned up great and the shake was new tires and 2 bushings... cut to the chase, I cancelled the SF flight and got the 944.... and I'm very please nearly 3 yrs later... the Lancias woulda been a ***** to keep running.... this car is actually very dependable... just gotta do yer maintenence.

[944jeff]

how long did you look? Couple months

how did you find it? Autotrader in 1994, 86NA w/27K, glass roof included!

how many did you see before you decided on 'the one'? none!

how long did it take to decide after seeing it? a few minutes

what were your main considerations? low mileage, good care
how much? 8.6K+tx

were you able to bargain down? a few hundred $, I even had cash with me.

[lordgrommit]

Ok I purchaced my first 944 NA out of the Recycler it was i Hollywood engine ran but there was a problem with the clutch. It was pretty trashed the PO had smoked so much that the lower dash was covered in Nicotine. The carpet was shot the pass side fender was smashed as well as a headlight cover. But it was an 86 with the newer dash. $1600. I cleaned it up replaced the fender ( how I met Erick W. ) and misc stuff other than there were four diffrent shades of red it ran great after the clutch was replaced.

Then
about six months later a turbo showed up in the same place with body damage the whole right side looked like it slid down a guard rail. it sounded great had perfect seats and it was a Turbo. The current owner had purchaced it from a Towing yard friend. I drove the thing for about six - eight months blew the head gasket driving to from Placerville to Lake Tahoe on 50. put in some stuff and got home.

Then
Erick W. ( aka WolfRPI ) blew his head gasket and decided to part out his car. With alot of smoke and mirrors I got his car and we removed most of the toys from it and brought it down to a lower state of Tune. I did a upper end Valve job and new belts . Replaced the prior massive turbo with the stock turbo but kept the Linsey Waste gate and Greedy Controler. Removed the Weltmister swaybars and put back the stock turbo ones, left the Koni yellow with ground control height ajustment. Took about a month to get it back on the road.. It's not as much of a beast as it was more of a *****..


matt

[cduke]

how long did you look?
I've been looking for a 944 or 951 since I was 16. I wasn't seriously looking when I bought it....it just kinda happened.

how did you find it? newspaper, internet, referral from somebody?
My girlfriend's brother sought to buy my car from the owner who had it parked in front of their house for two years. He offered $1500 and she didn't take it. After six months (and my girlfriend's brother having put new ignition wires, gas, oil, and a battery to investigate purchase) I offered $1000 and she took it immediately and i got a trailer that day.

how many did you see before you decided on 'the one'?
I've looked at >20 I think.

how long did it take to decide after seeing it?
about 10 seconds. I actually took the car for free and bought the title a month later (the title had gotten out of date and she had to get a new one)

what were your main considerations?
I wanted a cheap fixer-upper so I could learn to fix it and mebe turn it into a track car later on.

how much?
$1k

CD

[Joe Ricard]

Looked for about a month
very green around the gills knew nothing of the model 928
found nice 78 5 speed with 75K miles, all reciepts through second owner to fourth owner.
Fell in love with the pop up lights and that BIG V-8 sound. Then I drove it and there was no turning back.
10 years later I still drive it everyday! put about $1,000 dollars a year in parts. I have turned a wrench on this car from bumper to bumper.
Would I buy another one? ABSOLUTELY!!!!!! after 10 yrs of 928 ownership I can spot a cream puff in a second.

[pearldrum]

I always thought the 944 looked good, i just didn't know what it was. So, i figured out what it was and started dreaming that I could own one...Then about 6 months ago i went out for a bike ride, and saw it, an '83 sitting behind a car dealership. After a while, of looking for one i mentioned it to my dad, and we went to look at it. There was an '88 down the road from my house that was wrecked, we were gonna put the '83 body on it. We bought the '83 and deicded to try to start it, it turned over and after some fuel system work, it started an ran. we bought it for $800, and are still restoring it, we've finished all the major problems with it...it's coming along nicely...

[stray15]

Lets just say...I got screwed.

[ruechaos]

When I was 15, I was looking around the internet for an automobile that defined my attitude on life, both in it's style and uniqueness. One seach led me to a Porsche fan site that happened to have a few pictures of a 944. I knew then that I had to have one. I had never seen anything more robust or as aggressive and cool as the car. After about five minutes of drooling over these images, I snaped back to reality and said to myself,"Tony! It's a Porsche....it's not going to happen." Little did I know that these cars were actually pretty darn cheap. I was thinking at the time that they probably cost over 50,000$. Little did I know...

A few years later I was flipping through an AutoTrader magizine and saw one again, and the price was a mere 3000$. I called the guy about it, thinking that either there was something really wrong with it, or it was a typo. He had already sold the car when I called, but we talked about 944s for a few minutes, and he informed me that they wern't very expensive at all. To say the least, I was activly searching out for one of these jems...

I showed a few to my parents, but they diddn't like the idea of me driving a stick or spending 3 - 4000$ on what would be my first car. I ended up getting a Chevey Celeberity (the ugliest thing your ever saw) and did absolutly nothing with it. It sat in the back of my house for a year, and I think I only drove it but one time. I then sold it to my younger brother, and since he has put in a big sound system and totally messed up the suspension. Piece of crap...

A year later I nailed an awesome job installing fibre optic cable and setting up networks of CAT-5. This job payed just under 25$ an hour, and I worked 8 hours a day, 6 days a week, for 3 months. Needless to say, I made some serious jack. I bought a new computer, a new video camera, and put the rest into savings. Then I found her...

Actually I should say my brother found her, and even more accuratly I should say my brother found "him". (As I named my car Mr. BoJangles, but anyway...) My brother was driving around Saint Louis City, and saw this gorgeous gold (Platin M8U) 84' 944. Him and I drove up there, and it was love at first sight...

I had it checked out my a mechanic first thing, and was informed that it needed new tires, a new rear wheel bearing, and possibly new headers in a few years. The asking price was 3995$, which we haggled down to 3400$ even. Little did I know what all lay ahead...

Actually not much at all. Changed the wheel bearing, got new tires (still have to replace a tierod), installed new speakers, installed new plugs, wires, rotor, and cap, and a fuel filter, oil filter, oil change, new shift boot, re-connected an engine cooling fan, put in a new O2 sensor, and......and that's about it. Okay, so I lied....that was quite a bit of stuff, all worth it though. I now have a good understanding of how my car works, and how to fix what dosen't work. I have a feeling that this car will be with me for quite some time. Either until it dies or I...

In a few years I think I'm going to retire Mr. BoJangles to a weekend driver, and get something like a 928 S4, an Acura RSX, or an early 90's BMW 740i as a daily beater...

In the mean time, my 944 is still busy putting a smile on my face, and hopfully with continue to do so for many years to come...


-Tony

84' 944

[Nabeel]

I was looking for about a year, not really at the 944, but mostly for something in the 12-15K range. I have always liked 944s, and one of my friends owned one. However, I looked at 3 of them for sale in the area and they were all in crappy condition. I could have bought one of them and fixed them up, but I'm a student and I really didn't want to spend a lot of time fixing a car. So basically I wanted a daily driver in good condition which woudn't give me any major problems. I was looking at the E36 BMW 3-series (they were my first choice), a 1994 Mercedes C280, a few 1995-1996 Nissan Maxima SE, a few E34 BMW 525is, and even a 1993 Lexus ES300. I preferred a stick, but I wouldn't have minded an auto, since the car would be my daily driver.

Finally I was looking through the paper one day and found a 1985.5 944 about 80 miles away from my house. They were asking $6000 so I thought I might as well check it out. I drove up there at night and in the rain. I was thinking about turning back since at night in the rain is not an ideal time to look at a car. I drove up there anyway. The couple selling the car had it garaged, and as soon as I saw the car I noticed that it was in excellent condition, much better then the previous 944s I saw. I drove it with my dad and we both liked the car a lot. We decided right there after the test drive that we would buy it. We bargained down to $5500 and bought the car. I felt good about buying the car for less than half the price of the other cars we were looking at.

I thought about getting a 944 turbo while looking for cars, but I decided I better start off on something more sedate before getting a turbo. I will probably keep my current 944 for another 1-2 years, since it still runs perfect and currently has only 64K miles on it. After that I'd like to get a 951 or an S2. Maybe even a 968. Anyway, I'm happy for now, and until I save up enough money for my next car, I'll be having a blast driving my 944.

[EGSMachine]

i looked for about a week. found it on autotrader.com. i paid to much for all of the dang maintanence i had to do. paid 2988. the only thing i regret is that i didn't do my research, but that would have made things easy, an d i like it rough.

[dan10101]

I need to go change the track wheels/tires off the car. Ben running on them for 2 weeks now. So rather than rewriting the whole thing, i'll just point to my web site with the story.

Dan's Story

DanD

[dberkstr]

1983 944 125k miles, rebuilt trans., new inner cv joints, new tie rod ends, new updated water pump, new belts, new dash, new radio, Toyo tires. Car has a rebuilt title. OMP racing seats. I looked at 914's first. Was trying to stay local (SE Conn.). Only 914 I saw was overpriced, but in very good shape. Reminded me of a go-cart.

Looked in Bargain News, ebay, cars.com, Excellence magazine, local newspaper. Bought the first 944 I looked at. It was love at first sight. Original owner, 20 miles from me, lots of sentimental value to him, seemed like a nice guy. Paid $2700 due to the rebuilt title. Car needs overall TLC. One small rust-through spot. So far , so good.

[Z-man]

Been searching for a Porsche since 1996! Logged every car I was interested in. Approximately 200 cars are in that log!! Either the car wasn't right, or the funds were too low, until this past June.

I looked mostly on the 'web: autotrader, classifieds2000, cars.com, wantadpress.com: you name it, if it's a car classifieds website, it's in my favorites!

Started to seriously look at getting a 944 this January. Drove many, many miles, took a few days off of work to see these cars. Test drove a few, did Pre-purchase inspections, and RAN AWAY from most of them: people think they can get $$ for crap just because there's a Porsche emblem on the hood.

Then, the past June, I found an ad in a local paper for a 1989 944S2 in Ringwood, two towns over from where I live. Original owner car, dealer maintained, in great shape. Ask: $8500, offered $8000. Deal made. Would have been happy with a 944 n/a, but I'm real glad I held out and got the S2!

Since June, I have replaced the stereo with a CD unit, replaced the rear lic. plate holder (with a lighted one that works). Did three autox events, one DE event, and have not paid a DIME in maintenance!!! (Last year, PO did $4k of maintenance, including new clutch, h2o pump, alternator, brakes, ac charge, complete exhaust....and the list goes on).

In a couple of weeks I'm getting the timing belt done, as well as the other required maint. items. (H2O pump, cam tensioner replace, brakes...etc)

Oh, and am I every happy with it!!!! Click below for pictures of my baby.
-Z.
------------------
PCA NNJR
Click for more:

[porsche1984944]

I know Im a little late replying to thisbut I think my story is pretty decent. I'm in the Navy and just got back from a 6 month deployment so I had some money to spend and wanted to get rid of my 89 s-10 POS. I was engaged at the time so I hadnt planned on buying a car on this particular day.

I went out to about 5 dealerships looking for a "sports sedan" something like a grand am or contour svt I would have even settled for a new accord. Needless to say all the dealers were all over me trying to get me to buy a car that day. So i test drove some and they all sucked.

When I pulled into this honda dealership I saw the gem at the front of the lot bbut didnt even think about it. After about 2 1/2 hours there I finally decided to ask about it right before I left. Well the dealer wouldn't let me leave until I test drove it. Being that my dad had an 83 I had a clue what to look for and what to ask ( i.e. timing belt). I test drove the car and like most of you I'm sure fell in love almost instantly.

I called my fiance who was in florida at the time and told her about it. She wanted me to wait until she got up there in a week so she could see it. I didnt think it was going to be there in a week so needless to say I started to negotiate with the guy and got what I thought was a decent price (which now I feel like I got ripped off hearing what I should have paid). I went ahead and bought the car and while I was in the middle of paperwork my fiance called and asked if I had bought it. Well I didnt lie cause I hadn't sign the papers yet but i didnt tell the whole truth.

A week later I went to pick her up at the airport and we are walking out to the "truck". She couldnt find it as we walked by my baby and said " you forgot where you parked, where's the truck?" I said "what truck?" as i directed her to the 944. luckily she wasnt too mad. I think she is now that I spend so much time with the car.

[Scott R]

Might as well keep this great thread going:

87 951 Found it on Ebay, other members here knew about it. So far spent $400 or so in little things. New turbo and new A/C comp, both purchased from other list members. Thanks guys for the great deals! You know who you are. Added a LIndsey waste gate for a few hundered, and now have a screemer! Black/Black with 911 cup wheels. 80k on the dial.

[Dave951M]

Was originally looking for a 928. 951 was a close second. Looked for over 8 months, saw a bunch of dogs and overpriced cars. Ran across the 951 at the right price. It needed a little work, nothing really major, straight body, excellent interior. Now on the hunt for other pcars, have located a 912 in a barn, engine on the ground, sitting for over 10 years. Two 911 models under rather large leaf piles in the back of a woodlot. This type of car hunting is great fun.

Dave951M

[924speed]

Well i wasnt even looking for it but there it was sitting in the parking lot of a church when i walked by. I looked good so i had to go see it. Well im most likely going to buy it pretty soon.

[thamlin000]

My dad is the original owner of my 83 944. He ordered it new in 82 and waited 9 months for it while stationed in Nurnberg, Germany. I remember the day he brought it home (I was 3) and always loved the car as a brother. We used it as a family car until 1987 when we got a Mercury. With my parents in the front seats, my two older siblings and I were packed into the back seat, I sat on the hump since I was the youngest for nearly 5 years. I remember seeing 120+mph on the autobaun in this seating position. I learned to drive stick shift on it at the age of 10 in it when I could reach the clutch. It has been concoursed, auto-xed, and paraded. It has over 200k miles and has original paint. This summer it will recieve a high quality repaint to it's original color.

My dad gave me the 944 after I graduated from high school. I love the car and never plan to sell it. I'd cry like a baby if it was ever wrecked beyond repair.